FIGUEROA: Introducing North County's beer background

He's a wine drinker, as are many of his friends. But when Todd
Davis gets together with his pals to sample the latest finds, more
and more it's craft beer that ends up on the tasting menu.

"There's just so much enthusiasm now for good beer," said Davis,
41, a commercial real estate agent from Cardiff. "People are tired
of drinking Bud, Coors and Miller. It's boring. If you're with
friends drinking beer and you want something to talk about, craft
beer is an endless conversation."

While overall beer consumption in the U.S. is down, sales of
craft beer, made primarily from small, independent breweries, is
the fastest-growing segment of the beer industry. In 2010, volume
increased by 11 percent, according to the Brewers Association, made
up of more than 20,000 brewers, distributors and wholesalers.

Stop by any of San Diego County's more than 30 breweries any
given day of the week and you'll see just where that growth is
coming from.

While craft beer makes up only about 5 percent of the overall
beer market ---- the No. 1-selling beer in the U.S. is Bud Light
---- it's big business in North County, which is home to nearly
half of San Diego County's breweries.

One recent Saturday morning in San Marcos, The Lost Abbey/Port
Brewing Company opened its doors early to celebrate the release of
its Framboise de Amorosa, a Belgian-style raspberry sour beer.
That's where Davis was, along with more than 100 beer enthusiasts
who were packing the place before noon.

"Whether it's a Belgian-style beer that's meant to age, or a
beer that's really hoppy, they're just making phenomenal beers,"
Davis said. "It's very cool to see it all happening here.

"Look at where Napa was 30 years ago. It used to be known for
just grapes. It didn't start to really get noticed nationally until
the '80s, and it didn't receive worldwide acclaim until the '90s.
Compare that to what's going on here and you see a similar thing.
It's not going to stop anytime soon."

The Lost Abbey/Port Brewing, Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido,
Pizza Port in Solana Beach and Carlsbad, and Green Flash Brewing
Co. in Vista are just a few local brewers who have put San Diego
craft brewing on the map with their hop-forward, aromatic,
flavor-filled beers that are a stark contrast from what larger
breweries are producing.

Beer Advocate magazine, in its Top Beers of 2010, listed six
North County beers in its top 20. On its list of top breweries,
Stone and Lost Abbey made the list. AleSmith Brewing, off Miramar
Road, was voted No. 1.

"American beer 15 years ago was in a weird place," said Tomme
Arthur, co-founder and director of brewery operations at The Lost
Abbey/Port Brewing. "It was good, but now it's at the forefront of
everything. There are so many amazing craft brewers in this
country, pushing buttons in so many different directions. It's hard
to go 10 feet in this town and not find a good beer. Fifteen years
ago, it was a wasteland."

Stone, founded in 1996 by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner, was not
the first craft brewer in San Diego, but its edgy attitude,
willingness to push the boundaries of normal craft beer
expectations and an eagerness to distribute its beers outside of
the region has made it the poster child for San Diego beer.

"With our success, I think we have helped embolden very creative
and talented brewers to follow their muse," said Koch. "The safe
way is probably the least likely path to success. Think about
music. Could you ever be a big success being a cover band, shy of
all being midgets and dressing up like Kiss? The answer is no. For
long-term success, you must be original, you must have your own
style.

"We showed other brewers that they could do it their way and be
successful."

The Stone formula has worked wonders, as it has gone from
producing 400 barrels to 115,000 in its 15-year existence.

The formula is also working for The Lost Abbey/Port Brewing,
which grew 55 percent in 2010 and is already on pace to grow by at
least that amount this year, according to Arthur. The brewery
expanded its tasting bar in 2009 and is considering expanding it
again, and possibly building a beer garden.

"The amount of people coming into the craft brewing scene ----
we have never seen this level of enthusiasm," said Arthur, who
opened the brewery in Stone's old facility in 2006 with the brother
and sister team that are Pizza Port's co-owners, Vince and Gina
Marsaglia. "It went from zero to hero in about three flat. For some
people, the switch just kicked on and they're no longer drinking
bad beer."

Pubs and restaurants focused on craft beer are seeing a surge as
well. Churchill's Pub & Grille in San Marcos expanded its craft
beer lineup two years ago. Urge Gastropub in Rancho Bernardo, which
opened last July and features more than 50 taps, is expected to
exceed its first-year revenue goals by as much as 40 percent.

"The response has been well above our expectations," said
general manager Grant Tondro. "From day one, we've been completely
slammed."

Craft brewers are unified in their reasoning for why this type
of beer is generating so much enthusiasm among consumers. Simply
put, they say people are growing tired of drinking flavorless
beer.

"We've been fooled into thinking that fizzy, yellow beer
qualifies as beer," Koch said. "We're not inclined as human beings
to gravitate to being insipid. Imagine if you went back to a
European village a couple of hundred years ago, where they made
their own beer, cheeses, local styles of sausages and local styles
of bread. If you went there in a time machine and took fizzy yellow
beer, hot dogs, Wonder Bread and generic, yellow cheese and you set
up shop, how long do you think it would take before you were
tarred, feathered and run out of there for trying to hawk these
unseemly facsimiles of the real thing?"

"People are looking for quality," Tondro added. 'A lot of
Americans are just tired of the same old mass-produced thing."

Marc Figueroa covers beer for the North County Times. The Hop
Head column appears on the last Thursday of the month. Contact him
at marc@marcfig.com.